Gas studies debunked

May 16, 2013Letters to the Editor

In response to Joseph McMurry’s May 7 letter, “View fracking report,” I read the report with great interest. I work in the shale industry as well as reside in Butler County.

Unfortunately, what I saw were numerous studies that have mainly been debunked by science over the last several years. Quotes were from noted “anti-fractivists,” by no means independent thinkers. There was no attempt to share what hard science (not rhetotic) is teaching us about hydraulic fracturing — that it is, indeed, safe when done correctly.

In fact, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection just mentioned last week that one of the noted sites most cited by “anti-fracktivists,” Franklin Forks, was not contaminated by fracking. The methane was traced to naturally occurring sources and was not able to be attributed to drilling or the fracking process.

Too, the federal Environmental Protection Agency recently dramatically lowered its estimate of how much methane leaks during natural gas production; the air is in fact getting cleaner in this state.

Science shows us the real benefits and blessings from shale gas.

I support McMurry’s right to his thoughts and opinions, but he does not have a monopoly on the truth and facts.